Reviewer Guidelines

Reviewers shall assist the editor in reaching a final decision regarding submitted manuscripts. They also shall assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Double-blind review is the reviewing system followed in University of Thi-Qar Journal of Science. Reviewers shall abide by the following:    

  1. Any reviewer who feels unqualified to review a manuscript submitted to the journal or cannot provide a prompt review should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.
  2. Reviewers should treat manuscripts and all their contents with confidentiality. Data and information, including unpublished materials, must not be shared with anyone or used for personal advantage.
  3. Results reported have not been submitted or published elsewhere.
  4. Experiments, statistics, and other analyses are performed to a high technical standard and are described in sufficient detail.
  5. The article is written in Standard English with correct grammar.
  6. Appropriate references to related prior published works must be included.
  7. Reviewers must know that personal criticism of the authors and their work is inappropriate. Reviewers must present their reviews objectively and clearly with supporting arguments.
  8. Potential conflicts of interest between reviewers and authors must be raised by the reviewers and reported to the journal editor(s).
  9. Reviewers’ suggestions to authors on including citations of their works must be based on scientific reasons and not with the intention of increasing the reviewer’s citation count.
  10. Selection of the reviewers: The reviewers are selected by the section editor. The authors may nominate or exclude reviewers provided they provide justification for that.
  11. Number of reviewers per manuscript and decision-making process: The UTJSCI assigns three reviewers to each manuscript received. The outcome of the review process is based on the first two agreeing recommendations received. If two contradicting recommendations are received, the third recommendation is deemed decisive for the first review round. The next review rounds may be initiated based on the recommendations made by the reviewers.
  12. Time allowed for the reviewers: The reviewers are expected to complete their reviews within three weeks. Reviewers may request an extension of one week beyond the review due date.
  13. The review Report: They are requested to include their comments in a separate report. The reviewers are allowed to insert their comments on a copy file of the manuscript which will be transferred to the authors in the later stage of the review process.